Richard James Flaherty (November 28, 1945 — May 9, 2015) was a historically notable

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

service. As once the smallest serviceman in US history (standing at ) and inspired to undermine size-prejudice, investing his

military leadership A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a di ...

with insight and skills to survive bravery - Capt. Flaherty is today renowned as "The Giant Killer".

Early life

Flaherty inherited Irish ancestry from a grandmother born in Feakle,

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, one Bridget Smythe; and from a grandfather, Joseph Patrick Flaherty, born in the

Aran Islands The Aran Islands ( ; , ) or The Arans ( ) are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a total area around . They constitute the historic barony (Ireland), barony of Aran in ...

. Flaherty himself was born November 28, 1945, in Stamford,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, where his maternal lineage would eventually contribute to a dwarfism diagnosis. As his mother was unfamiliar with her own

Rh-negative The Rh blood group system is a human blood group system. It contains proteins on the surface of red blood cells. After the ABO blood group system, it is most likely to be involved in transfusion reactions. The Rh blood group system consisted o ...

blood-type, the attending Stamford Connecticut Regional Hospital staff were at some disadvantage to provide a blue-baby birth protocol. Flaherty's growth was affected. Facing life as a vulnerable outlier, Flaherty would eventually develop both confidence and athleticism through martial arts' practice.

Service career

Flaherty was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant after attending Infantry Officer Candidate School on August 31, 1967. In 1968, in support of the

Lieutenant Flaherty was assigned to the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

, his initial tour to Vietnam where he served as a

Platoon Leader A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank ...

and Recon Platoon Leader with companies B, C, D, & E. During the January, 1968

Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of ...

Flaherty participated in the fierce defense of Hue City, earning a

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

, two

Bronze Stars The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, and two

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

s. After this tour Lt. Flaherty returned to the US to attend Special Forces Officer Course at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

. Upon graduation he was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) as
Special Forces Operations Detachment A (SFODA) Commander
in Company A of the 3rd SFG in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Later that year, he was reassigned to the

10th Special Forces Group The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (10th SFG (A), or 10th Group) is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) Group. 10th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: Unconventional warfare (United States), ...

Fort Devens Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer, Massachusetts, Ayer and Shirley, Massachusetts, Shirley, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and Harvard, Massachusetts, Harvard in Worcester ...

. He served as an SFODA Commander in companies A and B. In 1971, having attained the rank of

, Flaherty left the Army.

Later life

After being discharged, Flaherty did private and military contract work in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

and

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

recruited him in the late 1970s due to his knowledge of

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

. The primary focus of his time in the CIA was supplying the

Nicaraguan Contras In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the Contra War, counter-revolution) were the Right-wing politics, right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxism, M ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. His stint with the CIA came to an end when he was arrested for possessing silencers. After being removed from the CIA, Flaherty helped catch a smuggling ring at

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and worked undercover for the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

as an informant. Flaherty was killed on May 9, 2015, in a

hit and run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the criminal act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there ma ...

. Fifteen years before Flaherty's death, he was befriended by Miami Police officer David Yuzuk after Flaherty became homeless. Just ten days before Flaherty's death, Flaherty told Yuzuk his story. After Flaherty's death, Yuzuk went to look into his history and uncovered troves of information from Flaherty's storage unit, such as his passport with stamps from

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. Flaherty was buried at Forest Memorial Park cemetery in Milton, West Virginia.

Documentary film

David Yuzuk directed, co-produced and co-wrote a biographical documentary film about the life of Flaherty, ''The Giant Killer'', which was released in 2017. It has a rating of 7.4 on IMDb.

Awards and decorations

References

External links

* https://blog.theveteranssite.greatergood.com/smallest-beret-vet/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Flaherty, Richard 1945 births 2015 deaths United States Army officers People from Stamford, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Recipients of the Silver Star